


Sublucidus

by Fjodor



Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Bella chooses Alice, Canon Compliant, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-03-04 02:57:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13355034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fjodor/pseuds/Fjodor
Summary: I decided to rewrite the Twilight novel into a more sensible romance. One where Bella chooses Alice.





	1. PREFACE

I’d never given much thought to how I would die – though I’d had reason enough in the past few months – but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.

        I stared without breathing across the long room, into the dark eyes of the hunter, and he looked pleasantly back at me. Surely it was a food way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something.

        I knew That if I’d never gone to Forks, I wouldn’t be facing death now. But, terrified as I was, I couldn’t bring myself to regret the decision. When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it’s not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end.

 


	2. Forks

My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. It was twenty-four degrees Celsius in phoenix, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue. I was wearing my favorite plaid shirt – blue and black, with sleeves rolled up, a farewell gesture. My carry on was a bomber jacket.

   In the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State, a small town named Forks exists under a near-constant cover of clouds. It rains on this inconsequential town more than any other place in the United States of America. It was from this town and its gloomy, omnipresent shade that my mother escaped with me when I was only a few a few months old. It was in this town I’d spend a month every summer until I turned fourteen. That was the year I finally put my foot down; these past three summers, my dad Charlie, vacationed with me in California for two weeks instead.

   It was to Forks that I now exiled myself – an action that I took with great horror. I detested the Town.

   I loved phoenix. I loved the sun and the blistering heat. I loved the vigorous, sprawling city.

   “Bella” my mom said to me – for the last of a thousand times – before I got on the plane. “You don’t have to do this.”

   My mom looks like me, except with short hairs and laugh line. I felt a spasm of panic as I stared at her for at her wide, childlike eyes. How could I leave my loving, erratic, harebrained mother to fend for herself? Of course, she had Phil now, so the bills would probably get paid, there would be food in the refrigerator, gas in her car, and someone too call when she got lost, but still…

   “I want to go,” I lied. I’d always been a bad liar, but I’d been saying this lie for so long and frequent that lately it sounded even I believed it.

   “Tell Charlie I said hi.”

   “I will.”

   “I’ll see you soon,” she insisted. “You can come home whenever you want – I’ll come right back as soon as you need me”

   But I could see the sacrifice in her eyes behind the promise.

   “Don’t worry about me,” I urged “It’ll be great. I love you, mom.”

   She hugged me tightly for a minute, and then I got on the pane, and she was gone.

   It’s a four-hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, another hour in a small plane up to Port Angeles, and then an hour dive down to Forks. Flying doesn’t bother me; the hour in the car with Charlie though, I was a little worried about.

   Charlie had really been fairly nice about the whole thing. He seemed genuinely pleased that I was coming to live with him for the first time with any degree of permanence. He’d already gotten me registered for high school and was going to help me get a car.

   But it was sure to be awkward with Charlie. Neither of us was what anyone would call verbose, and I didn’t know what there was to say regardless. I knew he was more than a little confused by my decision – like my mother before me, I hadn’t made a secret of my distaste of Forks.

   When I landed in Port Angeles, it was raining. I didn’t see it as a bad omen – just unavoidable. I’d already said goodbye to the sun.

   While looking for the exit in the renovated airport a charming girl pointed me in the right direction.

   Charlie was waiting for me with the cruiser. This I was expecting, too. Charlie is Police Chief Swan to the good people of Forks. My primary motivation behind buying a car, despite the scarcity of my funds, was that I refused to be driven around town in a car with red and Blue lights on top. Nothing slows down traffic like a cop.

   Charlie gave me an awkward wave form across the street, when I stumbled towards him. Tripping on the sidewalk.

   “It is good to see you, Bells” he said, smiling as he automatically caught and steadied me. “You haven’t changed much. How’s Renée?”

   “Mom’s fine. It is good to see you, too, Dad.” I wasn’t allowed to call him Charlie to his face.

   I only had a few bags. Most of my Arizona clothes were too permeable for Washington. My mom and I had pooled our resources to supplement my winter wardrobe, but it was still scanty. It all fit easily into the trunk of the cruiser.

   “I found a car for you, really cheap,” he announced when we were strapped in.

   “What kind of car?” I was suspicious of the way he said, ‘good car for you’ as opposed to just ‘good car.’

   “Well it is a truck actually, a Chevy.”

   “Where did you find it?”

   “Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?” La Push is the Indian reservation on the coast that stretched from the sea over half of the Olympic Peninsula.

   “No.”

   “He used to go fishing with us during the summer,” Charlie prompted.

   That would explain why I didn’t remember him. I do a good job of blocking painful, unnecessary things from my memory.

   “he’s in a wheelchair now,” Charlie continued when I didn’t respond, “so he can’t drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap.”

   “What year is it?” I could see from his change in expression that this was the question that he was hoping I wouldn’t ask.

   “Well Billy’s done a lot of work on the engine – it’s only a few years old, really.”

   I hoped he didn’t think so little of me as to believe I would give up so easily. “When did he buy it?”

   “he bought it in 1984, I think.”

   “Did he buy it new?”

   “well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties – or late fifties at the earliest,” he admitted sheepishly.

   “Dad, I don’t really know anything about cars. I wouldn’t be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn’t afford a mechanic…”

   “Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don’t build them like that anymore.”

   The thing, I thought to myself… it had possibilities – as a nickname, at the very least.

   “How cheap is cheap?” After all, that was the part I couldn’t compromise on.

   “Well, honey, I kind of already bought it for you. As a homecoming gift.” Charlie peeked sideways at me with a hopeful expression.

   Wow. Free

   “you didn’t need to do that, dad. I was going to buy myself a car.”

   “I don’t mind. I want you to be happy here.” He was looking ahead at the road when he said this. Charlie wasn’t comfortable with expressing his emotions out loud. I inherited that from him. So, I was looking straight ahead as I responded.

   “That’s very nice, dad. Thanks, I really appreciate it.” No need to add that my being in Forks is an impossibility. He didn’t need to suffer along with me. And I never looked a free truck in the mouth – or engine.

   “well, now, you’re welcome,” he mumbled, embarrassed by my thanks.

   We exchanged a few more comments on the weather, which was wet, and that was pretty much it for conversation. We stared out the windows in comfort of the radio playing, occasionally breaking up when we were passing a large hill.

   It was beautiful of course; I couldn’t deny that. Everything was green: the trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it. The ground covered with ferns. Even the air filtered down greenly through the leaves.

   It was too green – like an alien planet.

   Eventually we made it to Charlie’s. He still lives in the small, two-bedroom house that he’d bought with my mother in the early days of their marriage. Those were the only kind of days their marriage had – the early ones. There, parked on the street in front of the house that never changed, was my new – well, new to me – truck. It was a faded red color, with big rounded fenders and a bulbous cab. To my intense surprise, I loved it. I didn’t know if it would run, but I could see myself in it. Plus, it was one of those solid iron affairs that never gets damaged – the kind you see at the scene of an accident, paint unscratched, surrounded by pieces of the foreign car it destroyed.

   “Wow, Dad, I love it! Thanks!” Now my horrific day tomorrow would be just that much less dreadful. I wouldn’t be faced with the choice of either walking two miles in the rain to school or accepting a ride in the Chief’s cruiser.

   “I’m glad you like I,” Charlie said gruffly, embarrassed again.

   It took only one trip to get all my stuff upstairs. I got the west bedroom that faced the front yard. The room was familiar; it had belonged to me since I was born. The wooden floor, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the yellowed lace curtains around the window – these were all a part of my childhood. The only changes Charlie had ever made were switching the crib for a bed and adding a desk as I grew. The desk now held a second-hand computer, with the phone line for the modem stapled along the floor to the nearest phone jack. This was a stipulation from my mother, so that we could stay in touch easily. The rocking chair from my baby days was still in the corner.

   There was only one small bathroom at the top of the stairs, which I would have to share with Charlie. I was trying not to dwell too much on that fact.

   One of the best things about Charlie is he doesn’t hover. He left me alone to unpack and get settled, a feat that would have been altogether impossible for my mother. It was nice to be alone, not to give to smile and look pleased; a relief to stare dejectedly out the window at the sheeting rain and let just a few tears escape. I wasn’t in the mood to go on a real crying jag. I would save that for bedtime, when I would have to think about the coming morning.

   Forks High School had a frightening total of only three hundred and fifty-seven – now fifty-eight – students; there were more than seven hundred people in my junior class alone back home. All of the kids here had grown up together. I would be the new girl form the big city, a curiosity, a freak.

   Mabey, if I looked like a girl form Phoenix should, I could work this to my advantage. But physically, I’d never fit in anywhere. I should be tan, sporty, blond – a volleyball player, or a cheerleader, perhaps – all the things that go with living in the valley of the sun.

   Instead, I was ivory-skinned, without even the excuse of blue eyes or red hair, despite the constant sunshine. I had always been slender, but surprisingly well build but obviously not an athlete; I didn’t have the hand-eye coordination to play sports without humiliating myself – and harming both myself and anyone else who stood too close.

   When I finished putting my clothes in the old pine dresser, I took my bag of bathroom necessities and went to the shared bathroom to clean myself up after the day of travel. I looked at my face in the mirror as I brushed through my tangled, damp hair. Maybe it was the light, but already I looked sallower, unhealthy. My skin could be pretty – it was very clear, almost translucent-looking – but it all depended on color. I had no color here.

   Facing my pallid reflection in the mirror, I was forced to admit that o was lying to myself. It wasn’t just physically that I’d never fit in. and if I couldn’t find a niche in a school with three thousand people, what were my chances here?

   I didn’t relate well to people my age. Maybe the truth was that I didn’t relate well to people, period. Even my mother, who I was closer to than anyone else on the planet, was never in harmony with me, never on exactly the same page. Sometimes I wondered if I was seeing the same things through my eyes that the rest of the world was seeing through theirs. Maybe there was a glitch in my brain.

   But the cause didn’t matter. All that mattered was the effect. And tomorrow would be just the beginning.

#

I didn’t sleep well that night, even after I was done crying. The constant whooshing of the rain and wind across the roof wouldn’t fade into the background. I pulled the faded old quilt over my head, and later added the pillow, too. But I couldn’t fall asleep until midnight, when the rain finally settled into a quieter drizzle.

   Thick fog was all I could see out my window in the morning, and I could feel the claustrophobia creeping up on me. You could never see the sky here; it was like a cage.

   Breakfast with Charlie was a quiet event. He wished me good luck at school. I thanked him, knowing his hope was wasted. Good luck tended to avoid me. Charlie left first, off to the police station that was his wife and family. After he left, I sat at the old square oak table in one of the three unique chairs and examined his small kitchen, with its dark paneled walls, bright yellow cabinets, and white linoleum floor. Nothing was changed. My mother had painted the cabinets eighteen years ago in an attempt to bring some sunshine into the house. Over the small fireplace in the adjoining handkerchief-sized family room was a row of pictures. First a wedding picture of Charlie and my mom in Las Vegas, then one of the three of us in the hospital after I was born, taken by a helpful nurse, followed by the procession of my school pictures up to last year’s.

   It was impossible, being in this house, not to realize Charlie had never gotten over my mom. It made me uncomfortable.

   I didn’t want to be too early to school, but I couldn’t stay in the house anymore. I donned my jacket – which had the feel of a biohazard suit – and headed out into the rain.

   It was just drizzling still, not enough to soak me through immediately as I reached for the house key that was always hidden under the eaves by the door and locked up. The sloshing of my new waterproof boots was unnerving. I missed the normal crunch of gravel as I walked. I couldn’t pause and admire my truck again as I wanted; I was in a hurry to get out of the misty wet that swirled around my head and clung to my hair under my hood.

   Inside the truck, it was nice and dry. Either Billy or Charlie had obviously cleaned it up, but the tan upholstered seats still smelled faintly of tobacco, and peppermint. The engine started quickly, to my relief, but loudly, roaring to life and then idling at top volume. Well, a truck this old was bound to have a flaw. The antique radio worked, a plus that I hadn’t expected.

   Finding the school wasn’t difficult, though I’d never been there before. The school was, like most other things, just off the highway. It was not obvious that it was a school; only a sign, which declared it to be the Forks High School, made me stop. It looked like a collection of matching houses, built with maroon colored bricks. There were so many trees and shrubs I couldn’t see it size at first. Where was the feel of the institution? I wondered nostalgically. Where were the chain-link fences, the metal detectors?

   I parked in front of the first building, which had a small sign over the door reading FRONT OFFICE. No one else parked there, so I was sure it was off limits, but I decided I would get directions inside instead of circling around in the rain like an idiot. I stepped unwillingly out of the toasty truck cab and walked down a little stone path lined with dark hedges. I took a deep breath before opening the door.

   Inside, it was brightly lit, and warmer than I’d hoped. The office was small; a little waiting area with padded folding chairs, orange-flecked commercial carpet, notices and awards cluttering the walls, a big clock ticking loudly. Plants grew everywhere in large plastic posts, as if there wasn’t enough greenery outside. The room was cut in half by a long counter, cluttered with wire baskets full of papers and brightly colored flyers taped to the front. There were three desks behind the counter, one of which was manned by a large, redhaired-woman wearing glasses. She was wearing a purple t-shirt, which immediately made me feel overdressed.

   The red-haired woman looked up. “Can I help you?”

   “I’m Isabella Swan,” I informed her, and saw the immediate awareness light her eyes. I was expected, a topic of gossip no doubt. Daughter of the Chief’s flighty ex-wife, come home at last.

   “of course,” she said. She dug through a precariously stacked pile of document of her desk till she found the ones she was looking for. “I have your schedule right here, and a map of the school.” She brought several sheets to the counter to show me.

   She went through my classes for me, highlighting the best route to each on the map, and gave me a slip to have each teacher sign, which I was to bring back at the end of the day. She smiled and at me and hoped like Charlie, that I would like it here in Forks. I smiled back as convincingly as I could.

   When I went back out to my truck, other students were starting to arrive. Looking back to at the office another couple of students walking into the office. I drove around the school, following the line of traffic. I was glad to see that most of the cars were older like mine, nothing flashy. At home I’d lived in one of the lower-income neighborhoods that were included in the Paradise Valley District. It was common thing to see a new Mercedes or Porsche in the student lot. The nicest car here was a shiny Volvo, and it stood out. Still, I cut the engine as soon as I was in a spot, so that the thunderous volume wouldn’t draw attention to me.

   I looked at the map in the truck, trying to memorize it now; hopefully I wouldn’t have to walk around with it stuck in front of my nose all day. I stuffed everything in my bag, slung the strap over my shoulder, and sucked in a huge breath. I can do this, I lied to myself feebly. No one was going to bite me. I finally exhaled and stepped out of the truck.

   I kept my face pulled back into my hood as I walked to the sidewalk, crowded with teenagers. My plain black jacket didn’t stand out, notice with relief.

   Once I got around the cafeteria, building three was easy to spot. A large black “3” was painted on a white square on the east corner. I felt my breathing gradually creeping towards hyperventilation as I approached the door. I tried holding my breath as I followed two unisex raincoats through the door.

   The classroom was small. The people in front of me stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks. I copied them. They were two girls, one a porcelain-colored blonde, the other also pale, with light brown hair. At least my skin wouldn’t be a standout here.

   I took the slip up to the teacher, a tall, balding man whose desk had a nameplate identifying him as Mr. Mason. He gawked at me when he saw my name – not an encouraging – and of course I flushed tomato red. Not at least he sent me to an empty desk at the back without introducing me to the class. It was harder for my new classmates to stare at me in the back, but somehow; they managed. I kept my eyes down on the reading list the teacher had given me. It was fairly basic: Brontë, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Faulkner. I’d already read everything. That was comforting … and boring. I wonder if my mom would send me my folder of old essays, or if she would think that was cheating. I went through different arguments with her in my head while the teacher droned on.

   When the bell rang, a nasal buzzing sound, a gangly boy with skin problems and hair black as an oil slick leaned across the aisle to talk to me.

   “You’re Isabella Swan, aren’t you?” He looked like the overly helpful, chess club type.

   “Bella,” I corrected. Everyone within a three-seat radius turned to look at me.

   “where’s your next class?” He asked.

   I had to check in my bag. “Um, Government, with Jonsson, in building six.”

   There was nowhere to look without meeting curious eyes.

   “I’m headed towards building four, I could show you the way…” Definitely over-helpful. “I’m Eric,” he added.

   I smiled tentatively. “Thanks.”

   We got our jackets and headed out into the rain, which had picked up. I could have sworn several people behind us were walking close enough to eavesdrop. I hoped I wasn’t getting paranoid.

   “So, this is a lot different than Phoenix, huh?” he asked.

   “Very.”

   “It doesn’t rain much there, does it?”

   “three of four times a year.”

   “Wow, what must that be like?” he wondered.

   “Sunny,” I told him.

   “You don’t look very tan.”

   “My mother was part albino,”

   He studied my face apprehensively and I sighed. It looked like clouds and a sense of humor didn’t mix. A few months of this and I’d forget how to use sarcasm.

   We walked back around the cafeteria, to the south buildings by the gym. Eric walked me right to the door, though it was clearly marked.

   “Well, good luck,” he said as I touched the handle. “Maybe we’ll have some other classes together.” He sounded hopeful.

   I smiled at him vaguely and went inside.

   The rest of the morning passed in about the same fashion. My Trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, who I would have hated anyway just because of the subject he taught, was the only one who made me stand in front of the class and introduce myself. I stammered, blushed, and tripped over my own boots on the way to my seat.

   After two classes, I started to recognize several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves and ask me questions about how I was liking Forks. I tried to be diplomatic, but mostly I just lied a lot. At least I never needed the map.

   One girl sat next to me in both Trig and Spanish, and she walked with me to the cafeteria for lunch. She was tiny, several inches shorter than my five feet four inches, but her wildly curly dark hair made up a lot of the difference between our heights. I couldn’t remember her name, so I smiled and nodded as she prattled about teachers and classes. I didn’t try to keep up.

   We sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends, who she introduced to me. I forgot all their names as soon as she spoke them. They seemed impressed by her bravery in speaking to me. The boy from English, Eric, waved at me from across the room.

   It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them.

   They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren’t talking, and weren’t eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren’t gawking at me, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. But it was none of these things that caught, and held, my attention.

   They didn’t look anything alike. Of the three boys, one was big – muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark, curly hair. Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and honey blond. The last was lanky, less bulky, bronze-colored hair. They all looked like they would be in college, or even teachers here rather than students.

   The girls where opposites. The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the corner of the sports illustrated swimsuit issue, the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. The short girl was pixielike, thin but still slightly muscular, with small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction.

   And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, the palest of all the students living in this sunless town. Paler than me, the albino. They all had very dark eyes despite the range in hair tones. They also had dark shadows under those eyes – purplish, bruise like shadows. S if they were all suffering from a sleepless night, or almost done recovering from a broken nose. Though their noses, all their features, were straight, perfect, angular.

   But all this is not why I couldn’t look away.

   I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, where all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. they were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the faces of an angel. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful – maybe the perfect blond girl, or the pixielike girl.

   They were all looking away – away from each other, away from the other students, away from the other students, away from anything in particular as far as I could tell. As I watched, the small girl rose with her tray – unopened soda, unbitten apple – and walked away with a quick, graceful lope that belonged on a runway. I watched, amazed at her lithe dancer’s step, till she dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than I would have thought possible. My eyes darted back to the others, who sat unchanging.

   “Who are they?” I asked the girl from my Spanish class, whose name I still couldn’t recall.

   As she looked up to see who I meant – thought already knowing, probably, from my tone – suddenly the thinner boy looked at her. He looked at my neighbor for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes flickered to mine.

   He looked away quickly, more quickly than I could, though in a flush of embarrassment I dropped my eyes at once. In that brief flash of a glance, his face held nothing of interest – it was as if she had called his name, and he’d looked up in involuntary response, already having decided not to answer.

   My neighbor giggled in embarrassment, looking at the table like I did.

   “that’s Edward and Emmett Cullen ,and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The one that left was Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife.” She said this under her breath;

   I glanced sideways at the beautiful boy who was looking at the leaner one. His mouth moved very quickly, his lips barely opening. The other three still looked away, and yet I felt he was speaking quietly to them.

   Strange, unpopular names, I thought. The kinds of names grandparents had. But maybe that was in vogue here – small town names? I finally remembered that my neighbor was called Jessica, a perfectly common name. There were two girls named Jessica in my History class back home.

   “They are … very nice-looking.” I struggled with the conspicuous understatement.

   “Yes!” Jessica agreed with another giggle. “They’re all together though – Emmett and Rosalie, and Edward and Jasper, I mean. And they live together.” Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town, I thought critically. But, if I was being honest, I had to admit that even in Phoenix, it would cause gossip. “Which ones are the Cullens?” I asked. “They don’t look related….”

   “Oh, they’re not. Doctor Cullen is really young, in his late twenties or early thirties. They’re all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins – the blondes – and they’re foster children.”

   “They look a little old for foster children.”

   “They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they’ve been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She’s their aunt or something like that.”

   “That’s really kind of nice – for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they’re so young and everything.”

   “I guess so,” Jessica admitted reluctantly, ant I got the impression that she didn’t like the doctor and his wife for some reason. With the glances she was throwing at their adopted children. I could presume the reason was jealousy. “I think that Mrs. Cullen can’t have kids, though,” she added as if that lessened their kindness.

   Throughout all this conversation, my eyes flickered again and again to the table where the strange family sat. they continued to look at the walls and not eat.

   “Have they always lived in Forks?” I asked. Surely, I would have noticed them on one of my summers here.

   “No,” she said in a voice that implied it should be obvious, even for a new arrival like me. “They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska.”

   I felt a surge of pity, and relief. Pity because, as beautiful as they were, they were outsiders, clearly not accepted. Relief that I wasn’t the only newcomer here, and certainly not the most interesting by any standard.

   As I examined them, the youngest, one of the Cullens, looked up and met my gaze, this time with evident curiosity in his expression. As I looked swiftly away, it seemed to me that his glance held some kind of unmet expectation.

   “which one is the boy whit the reddish-brown hair?” I asked. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye, and he was till staring at me, but not gawking like the other students had today –he had a slightly frustrated expression. I looked down again.

   “That’s Edward. He’s gorgeous, of course, but don’t waste your Time. He’s Dating Jasper.” She snigged, a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered when she first noticed that.

   After a few more minutes, the four of them left the table together. They all noticeably graceful – even the big, brawny one. It was unsettling to watch. The one named Rosaline spared me a fleeting glance before walking away with the rest of them.

   I sat at the table with Jessica and her friends longer than I would have if I’d been sitting alone. I was anxious not to be late for class on my first day. One of my new acquaintances, who considerately reminded me that her name was Angela, had Biology II with me the next hour. We walked to class in silence. She was shy, too.

   When we entered the classroom, Angela went to sit at a blacktopped lab table exactly like the ones I was used to. She already had a neighbor. In fact, all the tables were filled but one. Next to the center aisle, I recognized Alice Hale by her pixielike appearance, sitting next to that single open seat.

   As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my slip signed, I was watching her surreptitiously. Just when I passed her, she looked up from a book she was reading and looked for a moment before closing the book and putting it away. I stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch myself on the edge of a table. The girl sitting there giggled.

   Mr. Banner signed my slip and handed me a book with no nonsense about introductions. I could tell we were going to get along. He pointed me to the only open seat, while mumbling about students changing schedules at the last second. I kept my eyes down while walking back, focused to not stumble again.

   I took a first look at the book he had just given me and was relieved that it was the same that I had used in Phoenix last year. Letting out a sigh of relief.

   “That will be handy”

   “What?” I asked turning to face Alice, bewildered by her comment.

   Alice smirked and turned her attention to the front of the room when the lesson started, and Mr. Banner began explaining how the different stages of the cell cycle in plants and how the different stages were called. As I’d seen this last year I took some notes for the difficult bits, but overall it was very relaxed lesson for me.

   Alice had apparently the same thought and dedicated most of the time stealing glances at me when I wasn’t looking. After a while she took her pen and scribbled something on a note and handed it to me.

   ‘I’m Alice, by the way.’ it read in perfect cursive handwriting that looked like it was the work of an experienced calligrapher.

   ‘I’m Bella.’ I responded less neat under her message and handed it back to her.

   Apparently, content with introductions Alice took out her book and continued reading it, taking a moment every few minutes to steal a glimpse from me. If I didn’t know any better I could have sworn that she looked like a cat that was ready to jump on me, but that would be silly. At that moment, the bell rang loudly, making me jump, while Alice was already, faster than expected, walking towards the door.

   “You want me, to help you find the Gym?” She asked while she passed my side of the table. Pausing for just a second.

   Taken aback that she knew where I would be going for a second, I threw my new Biology book into my backpack and put on my Jacket. “If it doesn’t bother you”

   “aren’t you Isabella Swan? A male voice asked.

   I looked up to see a baby-faced boy, his pale blonde hair carefully gelled into orderly spikes, smiling at me and Alice in a friendly way, oblivious to any prior interactions.

   “Bella,” I corrected him.

   “I’m Mike”

   “hi, Mike.”

   “Do you need any help finding your next class?”

   “She’s headed to the gym, I think she can handle that,” Alice said looking Mike over like it was the first time he was visible for her.

   “That’s my next class, too” He seemed thrilled, though it wasn’t that big of a coincidence in a school this small.

   We walked to class together; he was a chatter – he supplied most of the conversation, which made it easy for me. He had lived in California till he was ten, so he knew how I felt about the sun.

   It turned out that he was in my English Class also. He was one of the nicest people I met today. While he was recalling the famous victory of the Los Angeles Rams, we arrived at the Gym. Alice bid her farewell and I smiled at her before walking through the girl’s locker room.

   The Gym Teacher, Coach Clapp, found me a uniform but didn’t make me dress down for today’s class. At home, only two years of P.E. was required. Here P.E. was Mandatory all four years. Forks was literally my personal hell on earth.

   I watched four volleyball fames running simultaneously. Remembering how many injuries I had sustained – and inflicted – playing volleyball, I felt faintly nauseated.

   The final bell ran at last. I walked slowly to the office to return my paperwork. The rain drifted away, but the wind was strong and colder. I wrapped my arms around myself.

   When I walked into the office the red-haired woman looked up and smiled wide. “Can I have your Slip?” she asked.

   Handing it over I informed if the parking was set up in a specific spot per person or if it was a first come first serve situation. She confirmed it was the latter but reassured me that there was more than enough space even if everyone came by car.

   Walking out I could have sworn that Alice was standing on the other side of the road. Looking there when I stood outside she was gone. Strange I thought.

   When I got to my truck it was nearly the last car in the lot. It seemed like a haven, already the closest thing to home I had in this damp green hole. Sitting there for a moment reflecting on my day, starting to feel the cold creep in, so I turned the key and the engine roared to life. I headed back to Charlie’s house.


	3. Open Book

The next day was better…and worse.

   It was better because it wasn’t raining yet, through the clouds were dense and opaque. It was easier because I knew what to expect of my day. Mike came to sit by me in English, and walked me to my next class, with Chess Club Eric glaring at him all the while; that was flattering? People didn’t look at me quit as much as they had yesterday. I sat with a big group at lunch that included Jessica, Mike, Eric, and several other people whose names and faces I now remembered. I began to feel like I was treading water, instead of drowning in it.

   It was worse because I was tired; I still couldn’t sleep with the wind echoing around the house. It was worse because Mr. Varner called on me in Trig when my hand wasn’t raised, and I had the wrong answer. It was miserable because I had to play volleyball and the one time I didn’t cringe out of the way of the ball, I hit my teammate in the head with it. And it was worse because Alice Cullen wasn’t in school at all.

   All morning I was looking forward to lunch, while slightly dreading it for the bizarre glances that Edward had thrown my way yesterday. Part of me wanted to confront him and demand an explanation behind his reaction. But I knew myself too well to think I would really have the guts to do it. I made the cowardly lion look like the terminator.

   But when I walked into the cafeteria with Jessica – trying to keep my eyes from sweeping the place for him and failing entirely – I saw his four siblings of sorts were sitting together at the same table, and he was not with them. Looking confused, Alice looked up from her book and gave me a small smile though.

   Mike intercepted us and steered us to his table. Jessica seemed elated by the attention, and her friends quickly joined us. But as I tried to listen to their easy chatter, I had quickly tuned them out and was staring out the window looking at the rain that had started to fall. To my displeasure.

   Approaching the end of the meal I looked over to the Cullens and saw that Edward still wasn’t sitting there, and Alice was packing up her book and dropping her untouched food in a bin before leaving.

   Mike, who was taking on the qualities of a golden retriever, walked faithfully by me side to class. After holding the door for me, Mike lingered till the bell rang, and he went to sit by the girl with the brown eyes and the cherry blonde hair. It looked like I had to do something about Mike, and it wouldn’t be easy. In a town like this, where everyone lived on top of everyone else, diplomacy was essential. I had never been enormously tactful: I had no practice dealing with overly friendly boys.

   Deep in tough I looked over to where I was sitting and saw that Alice had set up already and pulled out my seat when I walked up. Sitting down I pulled out my Biology book and turned to where we left of yesterday. Allice spoke in a whisper, so silent that I almost didn’t hear it.

   “I think that you should tell Jessica to make a move.” She said without looking up from her book.

    “What?”

   “Well, he will continue to act like a dog and you will never sty to hurt his feelings, so tell Jessica to make a Move. That would solve your problem.” Alice said, in a matter of fact kind of way. She put her book down and turned to face me.

   “How do you know that will solve my ‘problem’?” I asked, intrigued by the confidence that Alice put in the statement.

   “You could say that I’m rarely wrong about things like these.” She responded, a grin starting to appear when she said, ’rarely wrong’, like if it was and inside joke.

    Before I could prod any deeper, Mr. Banner called the class to order and started to lesson by reading over the notes from yesterday. He then continued about the life cycle of cells in animals, which I had already taken, and Alice apparently too.

   Both of us still followed along but I was quickly distracted by the specimen that decorated the cabinet on the far side of the room. Alice Ticked on my shoulder a few times just before Mr. Banner asked a question or looked in our direction.

   At the end of the lesson Alice mention that I shouldn’t forget the promise I had made to my parent. Which while weird was a good reminder to pick up food.

   When the school day was finally done, and the blush was fading out of my cheeks from the volleyball incident, I changed quickly into my jeans and navy-blue sweater. After apologizing for the last time, for hitting her in the face, I left the locker room, pleased to find that I had successfully evaded my retriever friend for the moment. I walked swiftly out to the parking lot. It was crowded now with fleeing students. I got into my truck and dug through my bag to make sure I had what I needed.

   Last night I’d discovered that Charlie couldn’t cook much besides fried eggs and bacon. So, I suggested that I be assigned kitchen detail for the duration of my stay. He was willing enough to hand over the keys for the banquet hall. I also found out that he had no food in the house. So, I had my shopping list and the cash from the jar in the cupboard labeled FOOD MONEY, and I was on my way to the Thriftway.

   I gunned my deafening engine to life, ignoring the heads that turned into my direction, and backed carefully into a place in the line of cars that were waiting to exit the parking lot. As I waited, tying to pretend that the earsplitting rumble was coming from someone else’s car, I saw the two Cullens and the Hale Twins getting into their car. It was the shiny new Volvo. Of course. I hadn’t noticed their clothes before – I’d been too mesmerized by their faces. Now that I looked, it was obvious that they were all dressed exceptionally well; simply, but in clothes that subtly hinted at designer origins. With their remarkable good looks, the style with which they carried themselves, they could have worn dishrags and pulled it off. It seemed excessive for them to have both looks and money. But as far as I could tell, life worked that way most of the time. It didn’t look as if it bought them any acceptance here.

   No, I didn’t fully believe that. The isolation must be their desire; I couldn’t imagine any door that wouldn’t be opened by that degree of beauty.

   They looked at my noisy truck as I passed them, like everyone else. I kept my eyes straight forward and was relieved when I finally was free from the school grounds.

   The Thriftway was not far from the school, just a few streets south, off the highway. It was nice to be inside the supermarket; it felt normal. I did the shopping at home, and I fell into the pattern of the familiar task gladly. The store as big enough inside that I couldn’t hear the tapping of the rain on the roof to remind me where I was.

   When I got home, I unloaded all the groceries, stuffing them in wherever I could find an open space. I hoped Charlie wouldn’t mind. I wrapped potatoes in foil and stuck them in the oven to bake, covered the stake in marinade and balanced it on top of ta carton of eggs in de fridge.

   When I was finished with that, I took my book bag upstairs. Before starting my homework, I changed into a pair of dry sweats, pulling my hair up into a ponytail, and checked my e-mail for the first time. I had three messages.

   ‘Bella,’ my mom wrote…

 

‘Write me as soon as you get in. tell me how your flight was. Is it raining? I miss you already. I’m almost finished packing for Florida. But I can’t find my pink blouse. Do you know where I put it? Phil says hi. Mom.’

I sighed and went to the next. It was sent eight hours after the first.

   ‘Bella,’ she wrote…

‘Why haven’t you e-mailed me yet? What are you waiting for? Mom.’

The last one was from this morning.

‘Isabella,  
If I haven’t heard form you by 5:30 p.m. today I’m calling Charlie.

   I checked the clock. I still had an hour, but my mom was well known for jumping the gun.’

‘Mom,  
Calm down, I’m writing you now. Don’t do anything rash.

Bella.’

I sent that and began again.

‘Mom,

Everything is great. Of course, it’s raining. I was waiting for something to write about. School isn’t bad, just a little repetitive. I met some nice kids who sit by me at lunch.

Your blouse it at the drycleaners – you were supposed to pick it up Friday.

Charlie bought me a truck. Can you believe it? I love it. It’s old. But sturdy. Which is good, you know, for me.

I miss you, too. I’ll write again soon. But I’m not going to check my e-mail evert five minutes. Relax. Breathe. I love you.

Bella.’

   I had decided to read wuthering heights – the novel we were currently studying for the fun of it, and that’s what I was doing when Charlie came home. I’d lost track of the time, and I hurried downstairs to take the potatoes out and put the steak in the broil.

   “Bella?” my father called out when he heard me on the stairs.

   Who else? I thought to myself.

   “Hey, Dad, welcome home.”

   “Thanks.” He hung his gun belt and stepped out of his boots as I bustled about the kitchen. As far as I was aware, he’d never shot the gun on the job. But he kept it ready. When I came to stay here as a child, he would remove the bullets as soon as he walked in the door. I guess he considered me old enough not to shoot myself by accident, and not depressed enough to shoot myself on purpose.

“What’s for dinner?” he asked warily. My mother was an imaginative cook, and her experiments weren’t always edible. I was surprised, and sad, that he seemed to have remembered that far back.

   “Steak and potatoes,” I answered, and he looked relieved.

   He seemed to feel awkward standing in the kitchen doing nothing; he lumbered over to the cupboard and took out a couple of plates, knives and forks and some glasses. Placing it on the table he looked over to me and walked into the living room to watch TV while I worked. We were both more comfortable that way.  I made the salad while the steak cooked.

   I called him over when dinner was ready, and he sniffed appreciatively as he walked into the room.

   “smell swell bell.”

   “Thanks.”

   We ate in silence for a few minutes. It wasn’t uncomfortable. Neither of us bothered by the quiet. In some ways, we were well suited for living together.

   “So, how did you like school? Have you made any friends?” he asked as he as taking seconds.

   “Well, I have a few classes with this girl named Jessica. I sit with her friends at lunch. And there’s this boy, Mike who’s very friendly. Everybody seems pretty nice.”

   “That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid – nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off all the backpackers who come through here.”

   “Do you know the Cullen Family?” I asked interested.

   “Dr. Cullen’s family? Sure Dr. Cullen’s a great man.”

   “They…the kids…are a little different. The don’t seem to fit in very well at school.”

   Charlie surprised me by looking angry.

   “The people in this town,” he muttered. “Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here,” he continued, getting louder. “We’re lucky to have him – lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He’s an asset to the community, and all those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts naturally, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they’re all very mature – I haven’t had one speck of trouble with them. That’s more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should – camping trips every other weekend… Just because they’re newcomers, people have all the talk.”

   It was the longest speech I’d ever heard Charlie make. He must feel strongly about whatever people were saying.

   I backpedaled. “They seemed nice enough to me. I just noticed they kept to themselves. They’re all very attractive,” I added, trying to be complimentary.

   “You should see the doctor,” Charlie said, laughing. “it’s a good thing he’s happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around.”

   We lapsed back into silence as we finished eating. He cleared the table while I started with the dishes. He went back to the TV, and after I finished washing the dishes by hand – no dishwasher – I went upstairs unwillingly to work on my mathematics homework. I could feel a tradition in the making.

   That night it was finally quiet. I fell asleep quickly, exhausted.

   The rest of the week was uneventful. I got used to the routine of my classes. By Friday I was able to recognize, if not name, almost all the students at school. In Gym, the kids on my team learned not to pass me the ball and to step quickly in front of me if the other team tried to take advantage of my weakness. I happily stayed out of their way.

   Edward had reappeared during the Thursday midday lunch and started whispering. I don’t know about what but looking at the reaction on Alice’s face it was not news to her.

   Mike had also been putting a trip to the La Push Ocean Park together that was happening in two weeks. I was invited, and I agreed to go, more out of politeness than desire. Beaches should be hot and dry.

   By Friday, Alice and I had a routine worked out during Biology. I would point out the right answers and Alice would write them down. And when I started dreaming, Alice would poke my shoulder moments before I would be found out. She also insisted that I should tell Jessica to make a move.

   My first weekend in Forks passed without incident. Charlie, unused to spending in the usually empty house, worked most of the weekend. I cleaned the house, got ahead on my homework, and wrote my mom more bogusly cheerful e-mail. I did drive to the library Saturday, but it was poorly stocked that I didn’t bother to get a card; I would have to make a date to visit Olympia or Seattle soon and find a good bookstore. I wondered idly what king of gas mileage the truck got…and shuddered at the thought.

   The rain stayed soft over the weekend, quiet, so I was able to sleep well.

   People greeted me in the parking lot Monday morning. I didn’t know all their names, but I waved back and smiled at everyone. In English, Mike took his accustomed seat by my side. We had a pop quiz on wuthering heights. It was straightforward, very easy.

   All in all, I was feeling a lot more comfortable than I had thought I would feel by this point. More comfortable than I had ever expected to feel here.

   When we walked out of class, the air was full of swirling bit of white. I could hear people shouting excitedly to each other. The wind bit at my cheeks, my nose.

   “Wow,” Mike said. ” It’s snowing.”

   I looked at the little cotton fluffs that were building up along the sidewalk and swirling erratically past my face.

   “No, shit.” I said to him, but mostly the air – which was as white as a blank page. There went my good day.

   He looked up surprised. “Don’t you like snow?”

   “No. that means it’s too cold for rain.” Obviously. “Besides, I thought it was supposed to come down in flakes – you know, each one unique and all that. These just look like the ends of Q-tips.”

   “Haven’t you ever seen snow fall before?” he asked incredulously.

   “Sure, I have.” I paused. “On TV.”

   Mike laughed. And then a big squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of his head. We both turned to see where it came from. I had my suspicions about Eric, who was walking away, his back toward us – in the wrong direction for his next class. Mike apparently had the same notion. He bent over and began scraping together a pile of the white mush.

   “I’ll see you at lunch, okay?” I kept walking as I spoke. “Once people start throwing wet stuff, I go inside.”

   He just nodded, his eyes on Eric’s retreating figure.

   Throughout the morning, everyone chattered excitedly about the snow; apparently it was the first snowfall of the new year. I kept my mount shut. Sure, it was drier than rain – until it melted in your socks.

   I walked alertly to the cafeteria with Jessica after Spanish. Mush balls were flying everywhere. I kept a binder in my hand, ready to if necessary. Jessica thought I was hilarious, but something in my expression kept her from lobbing a snowball at me herself.

   Mike caught up to us as we walked in the doors, laughing, with ice melting the spikes in his hair. He and Jessica where talking animatedly about the snow fight as we got in line to buy food. I glanced towards the table in the corner out of habit. I admired the elaborate ways Alice had found to sit in her chair while reading.

   Jessica pulled on my arm.

   “Hello? Bella? What do you want?”

   I looked down, realizing I had been staring; my ears where had. I had no reason to feel self-conscious, I reminded myself.

   “What’s with Bella?” Mike asked Jessica.

   “Nothing,” I answered. “I’ll just get a soda today.” I caught up to the end of the line.

   “Aren’t you hungry?” Jessica asked.

   “I had a big breakfast this morning,” I said.

   I waited for them to get their food, and then followed them to a table, evading the Cullens with my eyes.

   I sipped the soda slowly, pausing because it was colder than I had expected. After Mike asked me twice if I wanted some of his meal, insisting that he had more than enough to share. I told him I was fine, to this Jessica looked pleased.

   Looking over to the table I saw something new, the Cullens were laughing Emmett, jasper and Edward all had their hair entirely saturated with melting snow. Alice and Rosaline were leaning away as Emmett shook his dripping hair toward them. They were enjoying the snowy day, just like everyone else – only they looked more like a movie scene than the rest of us.

   “Bella, what are you sating at?” Jessica intruded, her eyes following my stare.

   At that moment, Alice looked over to me and winked.

   I dropped my head, letting my hair fall to conceal my face. I was sure, though, that in that moment she winked, she was not only being friendly but might be hinting at something more.

   “Alice is looking over to you.” Jessica giggled in my ear.

   “How does she look?” I asked curios for the answer.

   “Like she could eat you up,” Jessica said. I looked up to her, worried. “In a good way,” she said when she saw my face.

   “The Cullens don’t look at anyone ‘in a good way’,” I said looking up at Jessica, my cheeks blushing from embarrassments.

   “Stop looking at her” I hissed when she started to turn to steal another glance.

   She snickered, but she didn’t turn to look. I raised my head back up to make sure she did, contemplating my options if she did.

   Mike interrupted us the – he was planning an epic battle of the blizzard in the parking lot after school and wanted us to join. Jessica agreed enthusiastically. The way she looked at Mike Left little doubt that she would be up for anything he suggested. I kept silent. I would have to hide in the gym until the parking lot cleared.

   For the rest of the hour I thought about my options I would have after gym, how I would navigate the end of the battle and how I wouldn’t get strung up by it in any way. During the hour my eyes lingered more than ones on Alice, who was engaging Edward in a game of Chess.

   I didn’t really want to walk to class with Mike as usual – he seemed to be a popular target for the snowball snipers – but when he went through the door everyone besides me groaned in unison. It was raining, washing all the traces of the snow away in clear, icy ribbons down the side of the sidewalk. I pulled mu hood up, secretly pleased. I would be free to go straight home after gym.

   Mike kept up a string of complaints on the way of the building four.

   Once inside the classroom, I was surprised to see that the lab table was still empty. Alice had always been the first one to arrive and usually spent that time reading. Mr. Banner was walking around the room, distributing one microscope and box of slices to each table. Class didn’t start for a few minutes, and the room buzzed with conversations. All of them a variation on how much of a bummer it was that the rain had started falling and melted the snow. I kept my head down and started doodling idly on the cover of my notebook.

   I heard very clearly that the chair next to me was being pulled out. Alice plopped down onto the chair and took out her still unopened biology book and put in on the table. Not looking up I carried on tracing the pattern on the cover.

   “What are you doing?” she asked. Looking up, I saw that her hair was dropping wet disheveled – even so, she looked like she’d just finished shooting a L’Oréal commercial. She had a smile beaming on her face, her face was friendly looking curiously at my handy-work.

    “Waiting for you,” I said, not untrue, surprised by my own response “, and for Mr. Banner to explain something that, I don’t already know.” Alice’s eyes sparkled when I said that I was waiting for her.

   “We won’t be waiting long anymore.” Alice said leaning back to mirror my position.

   As if the universe had been waiting for these words…

   “Can all of you turn to face the front.” Mr. Banner said turning to face us, he then started the lesson.

   Looking over to Alice quizzically, nonverbally asking her if she had anything to do with the timing. She just raised her eyes and started to pull out the slices and laid them out in an order.

   “…and when you think you have the slices in the right order, you can come up to the front and hand in your paper. Get started.” Mr. Banner finished and sat down to grade a stack of papers.

   “I think that this would do it,” I heard Alice say to my left who had absentmindedly laid out the seven slices on the table. She seemed very confident in the order.

   “Mind if I check?” I asked pulling the microscope closer to me and reaching out to the foremost slice. I looked up to see her smile so beautiful that I forgot why I had reached out my hand in the first place.

   I only realized where I was when Alice put the slice in my hand, looking concerned because I blacked out for a few seconds. I quickly put the slice under the microscope.

   Speeding through the 10X, 20X and 40X objective, I turned the adjustment knob till I saw a clear and sharp image through the eyepiece. I studied it briefly.

   My assessment was confident. “Anaphase.”

   “And that Slice was numbered what again?” Alice asked filling out the document.

   “Anaphase, Slice number 5” I responded, reaching out of the next slice.

   Alice handed me the second slice and put the slice back into the box. I slotted it under the microscope and pulled the focus sharp again.

   Going through the other six slices, Alice noted the numbers and I was surprised that they all were in the right order. At the end we were finished before anyone else was close. I could see Mike and his partner comparing two slides again and again, and another group had opened their book under their desk.

   After Alice had slid the paper over to my side to write my name next to hers. We both cleaned up the desk and packed our bags. Alice took the paper and brought it up to the front, and again as by some coincidence Mr. Banner just looked up when she walked up.

   When she returned I looked up and noticed that something was different. There was something different about her, something small, like…

   “Did you put in contacts?” I blurred out unthinkingly.

   She seemed to have anticipated my question,” No, I’ve not.”

   “Oh,” I let out. “There seemed to be something different about your eyes.”

   She shrugged, “Still my same old eyes,” Alice said, giving another smile.

   In fact, I was sure that there was something different. I vividly remembered that over the past few weeks her eyes had shifted from brown to a matte black. I didn’t understand how that would be, unless she was lying for some reason about the contacts. Or maybe Forks was making me crazy in the literal tense of the word.

   Waiting for the class to be over in silence, surrounded by the scratches of pens on paper, and whispers of brief discussions.

   Alice had picked her book up again and continued were she had left off. Sitting up close I could finally make out the title, ‘The Downfall of civilization in ancient history by Iry-Hor’, she seemed to be entertained by the contents and occasionally sniveled a chuckle.

   I began doodling in my notebook again. I continued my sketch of the statue that had stood outside of my old school. Dreaming off again to warmer weather.

   “Too bad about the snow, isn’t it?” Alice asked.

   “Not really,” I answered honestly, instead of pretending to be at least neutral on the topic.

   “You don’t like the cold.” Alice said.

   “Not a big fan of the Wet too.”

   “Forks must be a difficult place for you to live,” she mused.

   “You have no idea,” I muttered defeated.

She looked fascinated by what I said, for some reason I couldn’t imagine. Her face was such a distraction that I tried to not to obviously stare.

   “Why did you come here, then?”

   No one had asked me that – not so blunt like she had asked.

   “It’s complicated.”

   “I think that I can keep up,” she pressed, putting her book down.

   I paused for a long moment, trying to sort my thoughts to explain the order of events. During which I made the mistake of looking in her eyes, loosing track of my thoughts. My thoughts returned, and I started where I knew it would be the best.

   “My mother got remarried,” I said.

   “That doesn’t sound so complex,” she said injecting into my explanation, sympathetically. “When did that happen?”

   “Last September.” I said, suspired that it had already been a year and a half.

   “And you don’t like him?” Alice asked, her tone kind.

   “No, no. Phil’s fine. Too young maybe, but nice enough.”

   “Why didn’t you stay with them then?” Alice asked,” not complaining thought” she added more for herself than me.

   “Phil travels a lot, He plays or coaches baseball for a living.” I half-smiled.

   “Would I have heard of him?” Alice asked, smiling in response.

   “Probably not. He doesn’t play well, more a manager than player. Strictly minor league. He moves around a lot.”

   “And your mother sent you here so that she could travel with him?” she asked.

   Raising my eyebrow, I offered an apologetic look. “No, she did not send me here. I sent myself here.

   Her eyebrow knitted together. “I don’t understand,” she admitted, “Can you explain it?”

   I sighed, could I explain it? Even I had convinced myself it was a good idea by repeating it repeatedly to myself. When I stayed silent for a moment, Alice leaned in and stared with obvious curiosity.

   “She stayed with me at first, but she missed him. It made her unhappy … so I decided it was time to spend some quality time with Charlie.” My voice was glum by the time I had finished.

   “But now you are unhappy.” She pointed out.

   “And?” I challenged her.

   “That doesn’t seem fair.”

   I laughed without humor. “Hasn’t anyone told you? That life isn’t fair.

   “I believe I have heard that somewhere before,” she agreed dryly.

   “So that’s all,” Insisted, wondering why she was still staring at me like she wanted to fix my problems.

   Her Gaze became more appraising while she started realized something. “You put on a good show,” she said with a sparkle of inspiration in her voice. “but I’d be willing to bet that you’re suffering more than you let anyone see.”

   I grimaced at her and stuck out my tongue like a five-year-old and looked away.

   “Am I wrong?”

   Trying to ignore her, I put my head om my side of the desk.

   “I didn’t think so,” she murmured absentmindedly.

   “Why does it matter to you?” I asked, irritated. I kept my head down.

   Hearing a buzz of a smartphone going of next to be I heard a sharp inhale of air. “Oh, like you know how to brighten up a girl’s day.” Alice murmured while reading the text. She tapped out a fast message smirking at her phone.

   “That’s a very good question,” she muttered, so quietly that I wondered if she was talking to herself. However, after a second or so her phone lit up again as she picked it up. Looking at it disapprovingly.

   I sighed, wondering if that was going to be last thing she would say. Looking to the clock there were would be about five to ten minutes left.

   “Am I annoying you?” she asked, sounding amused.

   I glanced at her without thinking ... and told the truth again. “Not exactly. I’m more annoyed at myself. My face is an open book.” I frowned.

   “You’d be surprised how difficult it is to read you.” Alice said offering her opinion. “Your future is easy, past is a lot more difficult,” she then said, quietly.

   “You must have a good feeling for what will happen.” I told her.

   “I usually am.” She smiled widely, flashing a set of perfect, ultra-white teeth.

   Mr. Banner Called the class to order as he asked for everyone to turn in the paper, after which he would explain what the right order would have been.

   I tried to appear attentive as Mr. Banner illustrated, with transparencies on the overhead projector, what I had seen without difficulty through the microscope. But my thoughts were somewhere else.

   When the bell finally rang, Alice dropped her book in her bag and took off gracefully from the room as only the Cullens would.

Mike skipped quickly to my side and waited for me to get up. I imagined him with a wagging tail.

   “That was awful,” he groaned. “They all looked the same. You’re lucky you had Cullen for a partner.”

   “I didn’t have any trouble with it,” I said, stung by his assumption. I regretted the snub instantly. “I’ve done a lab similar to this one before, though.” I added before he could get his feelings hurt.

   “Cullen seemed to be friendly today,” he commented as we shrugged into our raincoats.

   I tried to sound indifferent. “I wonder what the weather will bring?” I asked to change the topic.

   I couldn’t concentrate on Mike’s chatter as we walked to Gym, and P.E. didn’t do much to hold my attention either. Mike was on my team today. He chivalrously covered my position as well as his own, so my woolgathering was only interrupted when it was my turn to serve; my team ducked warily out of the way every time I was up.

   The rain was just a mist as I walked to the parking lot, but I was happier when I was in the dry cab. I got the heater running, for once not caring about the mind-numbing roar of the engine. I unzipped my jacket, put the hood down, and fluffed my damp hair out so the heater could dry on the way home.

   I look around me to make sure I was clear. That’s when I noticed the sill, white figure. Alice was leaning against her Audi, three cars down from me, looking over to me. I gave her a nod and reversed my truck out of there, almost hitting a rusty Toyota Corolla in my haste. Lucky for the Toyota, I stomped on the brake in time. It was just the sort of car that my truck would make scrap metal of. I took a deep breath, and cautiously pulled out again, with greater success. I focused on the road as I passed the Audi, I could have sworn that Alice had weaved me off.


	4. Phenomenon

When I opened my eyes in the morning, something was different.

   It was the light. It was still the gray-green light of a cloudy day in the forest, but it was clearer somehow. I realized there was no fog veiling my window.

   I jumped up to look outside and groaned in horror.

   A fine layer of snow covered the yard, dusted the top of my truck, and whitened the road. But that wasn’t the worst part. All the rain from yesterday had frozen solid – coating the needles on the trees in fantastic, gorgeous patterns, and making the driveway a deadly ice slick. I had enough trouble not falling when the ground was dry: it might be safer for me to go back to bed now.

   Charlie had left for work before I got downstairs. In a lot of ways, living with Charlie was like having my own place, and I found myself reveling in the aloneness instead of being lonely.

   I threw down a quick bowl of cereal and some orange juice from the carton. I felt exited to go to school, and that surprised me. I knew it wasn’t the stimulating learning environment I was looking forward to or seeing my new set of friends. If I was being honest too myself, I knew I was eager for school because I would see Alice Cullen again.

   I should be avoiding her, after almost hitting a car because she was looking at me. And there was the question about her eyes, why would she lie about it? I sometimes felt emanating from her, and I became tongue-tied whenever I pictured her perfect smile. I understood mine and her league where spheres that did not touch. So, I wouldn’t matter if I saw her today.

   It took every ounce of my concentration to make it down to the icy driveway, fearing for the moment that my clumsy feed would touch the ground and lose grip. Surprisingly the driveway had been salted and I reached my truck without losing my balance ones.

   Driving to school, I distracted myself from the fear of falling, or the fear of slipping of the road – which had become a new fear, introduced by the icy weather – and my speculations about Alice by thinking about Jessica, Mike, and Eric, and the obvious difference between how teenagers responded to me here. I was sure I looked the same as I had in Phoenix. Maybe it was just that the teens back home had watched me pass slowly through all the awkward phases of adolescence and still thought of me in that way. Perhaps it was because I was a novelty here, where novelties are far and few between. Possibly my crippling clumsiness was endearing rather than pathetic, casting me as a damsel in distress. Whatever the reason, Mike’s puppy behavior and Eric’s apparent rivalry with him was disconcerting. I was not sure if I didn’t prefer being ignored.

   My truck seemed to have no trouble with the black ice that covered the roads. I drove very slowly, though, not wanting to carve a path of destruction through Main Street.

   When I got out of my truck at school, I saw why I’d had so little trouble. Some silver sparkling struck my eye, and I walked to the back of my truck – carefully holding on to the side for support – to examine my tires. There were thin chains crisscrossed in diamond shapes around them. Chalice had gotten up who knows how early to put snow chains on my truck. My throat suddenly felt tight. I wasn’t used to being taken care of, and Charlie’s unspoken concern caught me by surprise.

   I was standing by the back corner of the truck, struggling to fight back the sudden wave of emotion the snow chains had brought on when I someone tap my shoulder.

   Alice stood there a looking either glad to see me or impatient, maybe both, it was quite difficult to read her. 

   “What’s up?” I asked Alice. When she started to open her mouth to answer my question a heard an odd sound.

   It was a high-pitched screech, and it as fast becoming painfully loud and it was coming closer. Turning to face where it was coming from, Alice pulled me closer to her, around the corner of my truck. I looked up startled by the extraordinary speed at which she’d pulled me closer, almost missing what was coming closer.

   I saw several things simultaneously. The dark blue van that was skidding, tires locked and squealing against the brakes, spinning wildly across the ice of the parking lot. It was going to hit the back corner of my truck, the corner I was now standing next too. I didn’t have time to close my eyes.

   I saw the van collide with my truck and felt the shock going through the vehicle. And how my tuck took the impact well, it bucked a bit on two wheels opposite the collision, but overall undamaged. When it settled again on four wheel the trucked did manage to slam into my arm.

   “Bella? Are you all right?” Alice asked looking at my arm, worried but relieved that I wasn’t in the middle of a van, truck sandwich.

   “I’m fine,” I said not yet feeling the injury, thanks to the adrenaline that was coursing through my system.

   “Be careful,” Alice said reaching out, but rethinking in the middle of the motion, seeing that it might hurt me.

   I tried leaning back onto the truck when I became aware of the throbbing ache on my left side.

   “Ow,” I said surprised.

   “Typical” Alice whispered, pulling out her phone and sending a text.

   “How did you know that the truck was going to hit my truck?” I asked when she looked up from her phone.

   “hmm?” she looked questionably.

   “When you pulled me around the back of my truck before the collision,” I clarified, seeing the confusion dissipate out of her face.

   “Oh, that,” Alice let out, “I was walking past and saw the van turning, realizing that it had lost control and on collision course, I pulled you out of the way.”

   Suddenly I became aware of the van that had just collided with my truck. A few people where gathered around the front of the vehicle.

   “Get Tyler out of the van!” someone shouted, “call an ambulance!” someone else said. There was a flurry of activity happening that was slowly encompassing the van. When the crowd got visual of us, the shouting only grew, “Don’t move” someone instructed.

   I didn’t mind staying there, in company of the beautiful Alice Hale. After a few moments of Jessica asking how I was, Alice explained that the truck had slammed into me, but the injuries were very minor.

   Jessica asked if Alice had everything under control before she left to inform the teachers who were just arriving on the scene.

   When the ambulances arrived the school nurse was there and explained that Tyler had a mild concussion and that I was likely suffering from a bruised rib.

   I protested but Alice sold my out by conforming the story and poking my left side quickly, making me grunt out of pain. The EMT’s gave me a ones over and put me in the back of the ambulance.

   I was sitting next to Tyler, who’d been strapped down and was wearing a neck brace, he was passed out as far as I could see. Alice had managed to take one of the front seats and was making small talk with driver.

   Before they could close the doors, chief Swan arrived on the scene. He was probably alerted by the school, I thought.

   “Bella!” he yelled in panic when he recognized me in the ambulance.

   “I’m completely fine, Dad,” I signed. “Just a small bruise, noting serious.”

   He turned to the closed EMT for a second opinion. I turned him out to focus on what had happened. If Alice hadn’t pulled me aside there wouldn’t have been a lot left to scrape together in this ambulance, Charlies panic would have been justified. But it didn’t happen, so no need to go over hypothetical situations.

   Looking out over the dissipating crowd, I could see Alice’s family standing on the other side of the parking lot. With an expression ranging from disapproval to surprise.

   Naturally, the ambulance got a police escort to the county hospital. Arriving there Alice offered her hand when I got out of the ambulance, Which I held onto when we both entered the hospital. Charlie was running ahead of us, talking to the people behind the entrance desk.

   They put me in the emergency room, a long room with a line of beds separated by pastel-patterned curtains. A nurse put a pressure cuff on my right arm, which made Alice release her grip on my hand to let the nurse do her job. The nurse also put a thermometer under my tongue before walking off. I looked around to see where Alice had wandered off to. She’d disappeared when she let go of me.

   There was another flurry of hospital personnel, Tyler was brought to the bed next to me on a stretcher. He looked a hundred times worse than I felt. But he was staring anxiously at me.

   ‘Bella, I’m so sorry!”

   “I’m fine, Tyler – you look awful are you all right?” As we spoke, nurses began unwinding his soiled bandages, exposing a myriad of shallow slices all over his forehead and left cheek.

   He ignored me. “I thought I was going to kill you! I was going too fast, and I hit the ice wrong…” He winced as one nurse started dabbing at his face with some kind of rubbing alcohol.

   “Don’t worry about it, Alice pulled me out of the way just in time.”

   “That’s a relief, I closed my eyes in the moment, and had put all my weight on the brakes. Where is she? I would like to thank her for making me not a murderer” he said relieved.

   “She’s here somewhere.” I replied looking at the entrance door.

   When the nurses where done take care of Tyler, they asked me where it hurt, after I told them that my left side felt bruised. They then asked me if it felt broken to me, I replied that I didn’t know.

   They then wheeled me away, to take an X-ray of my chest. It revealed that I had just gotten a painful bruise, and that I hadn’t broken anything. I asked if I could leave, but the nurse said I had to talk to a doctor first, Hospital procedure and whatnot. So now I was trapped in the ER, waiting, interrupted by the occasional apologies that Tyler was saying. No matter how many times I assured him that I was fine, and that hypothetical situation hadn’t happened.

   Finally, I closed my eyes and ignored him, looking up when Charlie walked by to check up on me.

   “hey Bells, how are you doing?” he asked, reaching out to hold my hand.

   “Hi dad, I’m fine, just a few bruises, noting to worry about.” I replied taking his hand and reassuring him that I really was fine. “Just go and find me a doctor so he can sign me out of the hospital.”

   “Right, I’ll be back” he said letting go of my hand and walking with a purpose towards the door.

   Well, I won’t be seeing him again today, I thought rolling onto my back. Trying to take a nap.

\-  

   “Is she sleeping?” a whispered voice asked. My eyes opened slightly, turning to face the front of the bed. Stretching out, from a deeper sleep than I had intended.

   Alice was standing at the foot of the bed, leaning on the front, smile on her lips. I opened my eyes completely after wiping the sleep out of them.

   “Alice, thanks for pulling her out of…” Tyler began.

   Alice turned with a smile, “No need to dwell on hypotheticals,” she said, flashing her brilliant white teeth. She moved to pull the curtain and moved it to allow more privacy. Posting herself on the foot of my bed.

   “So, what’s the verdict?” she asked me.

   “There is nothing wrong with me at all, but I’m stuck here till a doctor would release me.” I complained, “where have you been?” I asked her.

   “I’ve been looking for a doctor for you,” she said, looking out past the curtain, “and I believe, he has arrived” she said with a smile waving someone down, who was still hidden by the curtain.

   Then the doctor walked around the corner, and my mouth fell open. He was young, he was blonde, and he was handsome, like a movie star. He was pale, though, and tired-looking, with circles under his eyes. From what I could remember of Charlie’s descriptions, this had to be Alice’s father.

   “So, miss Swan,” Doctor Cullen said in a remarkably appealing voice, “How are you feeling?”

   “I’m feeling fine,” I said, for what would be the last time today, I hoped.

   He walked to the lightboard on the wall over my wall and turned it on.

   “Your X-rays look good,” he said. “Does your side still hurt? Alice told me that the truck hit you pretty hard.”

   “It’s fine,” I repeated with a sigh, throwing a pleading expression towards Alice.

   The doctor’s cool fingers prodded lightly in my side. He noticed that I winced a little.

   “My excuses.” He said when Alice swatted him in his side.

   “I’ll accept” I said looking appreciatingly at Alice.

   She chuckled and beamed a smile in my direction.

   “Well, your father is in currently wandering the halls of our hospital, would you like me to have someone fetch him? You can go home with him now, if you want. But come back if the brushing doesn’t go away in the next few days.

   Can’t I go back to school?” I asked.

   “I imagine that by now there would be no point of sending you back for just an hour or less.” he answered.

   “Does she have to go back,” I pointed at Alice.

   “Rude” she mounded back at me.

   “I think that in her case, there would be no real reason for her not to go back.” He said, now looking over at his daughter who had gotten comfortable on my bed. Alice had resorted to using puppy-eyes on her father.

   “but I guess that missing the last part of a school day isn’t that bad.” He gave in.

   “Actually,” Doctor Cullen corrected, “most of the school seems to be in the waiting room. So even if you go back there would be little do.”

   “Oh no,” I moaned, covering my face with my hands.

Doctor Cullen raised his eyebrows. “would you like to stay?”

   “No, no!” I insisted, throwing my legs over the side of the bed and hopping down quickly. A bit too quickly – I staggered, and Alice caught me, spreading out over the bed. She looked a bit concerned, and quizzingly.

   “I’m fine,” I assured him again. No need to announce my balance problems in the middle of an ER room.

   “Take some Tylenol for the pain,” he suggested as he walked off.

   “It doesn’t hurt that bad,” I insisted, to his back.

   “Sure,” Alice said squeezing my sides, reminding that she was still holding onto me.

   “I’m afraid that you’ll have to stay with us just a little bit longer,” he said to Tyler, I heard him saying on the other side of the curtain.

   “Can I talk to you for a minute?” I asked Alice. She released me and turned onto her belly.

   “Your father will be waiting for you,” she said, “but, for you I would do anything.”

   “I’d like to talk to you alone, if you don’t mind,” I pressed.

She glanced around, and then hopped off the bed, turned her back and strode down the long room with me in tow. I could keep up easily, even though I almost got familiar with the floor again, she slowed down a bit. As soon as we turned the corner into a short hallway, she spun around to face me.

   “What questions might you have?” she asked, sounding intrigued. Her eyes sparkled a with golden glance.

   I was temporarily distracted by her and forgot what I was going to ask her.

   “What… How… like…” I started.

   “Calm down,” Alice said, reaching out to put a hand on my arm.

   Taking a deep breath in, and letting it out “How did you know that Tyler was going to lose control over the van and slam into my truck?” I asked Alice.

   “I just saw it happening and pulled you aside to make sure that noting serious would have happen.” Alice told me, squeezing my arm in the process.

   “But, you were already standing next to me before Tyler turned into the parking lot.” I said, desperately for any ‘real’ explanation.

   “What do you want me to say, Bella.” Alice asked pulling her hand away and crossing her arms on her chest. “I told you exactly what happened,” She said, sounding hurt that I wouldn’t believe her.

   Looking at her, I could not decide if I wanted to press for the truth or to let it go. The adorable puppy face Alice was making didn’t help either. It was just… so much suddenly, like… she pulled me out of the way of Tyler’s van and functionally saved my live by preventing harm.

   “ughh…,” I let out in frustration, “alright… alright. You saved my life, I shouldn’t be pressing too hard on how or why. Thank you for pulling me out of the way.” I exclaimed after meandering over my thoughts.

   Alice, cheered up a bit when she heard the acceptance of her story and seemed to appreciate my apology.

   “See, I told you how it happened,” Alice said already cheered up again. She then took my hand and started walking towards the fire exit, “I imagine that you would rather leave here as discreetly as possible?”

   “Why would I…” I started to say suddenly remembering what Doctor Cullen had said; ‘most of the school seems to be in the waiting room’. “I think that a discreet exit is just what I want.” I told Alice following her through the emergency exit.

   The outside world had not stood still since I had entered the hospital, it seemed that there was at least a few more centimeters added to the snow. It was freezing cold out there.

   Alice handed my her jacket, “Here put this on before you get a cold.”

   Strangely the jacket wasn’t as warm as I had expected. It was a great jacket against the cold, but it seemed as if it wasn’t heated up by Alice’s body temperature.

   Rounding the corner I saw Charlie’s cruiser. Oh, yeah he’s still in there. Pulling out my phone, I texted him that I was waiting outside by his car.

   We then walked onto the carpark and leaned up on the cruiser, waiting for Charlie to drive me home. It where a few peaceful moments out there, watching how the snow was starting to fall again.

   When Charlie walked out of the hospital, I waved at him. Recognizing me, he relaxed a little and started waking over.

   “I fear that this will be goodbye,” Alice said getting up form the car and turning to face me, “I’ll see you on Monday?” she inquired.

   “I don’t see why not.” I answered.

   “Great”, she said while pecking a kiss on my cheek. “see you Monday!” she said and walked away, crossing Charlie, back into the hospital.

   “Bella, you okay?” He asked as soon as he was by the car.

   “Dad, I’m fine, Doctor Cullen said that there was noting to worry about, and could you open up the car I’m freezing out here.” I told him.

   Nodding his head approvingly he quickly opened up the passenger’s side of the car before walking around the car and getting in himself.

   The roads where a strange combination of white snow and black slush from the cars that had driven over them. It was a peaceful ride home, I told Charlie, what had happened, leaving out my speculations about Alice. He told me that my van was still at the school, but that there was no damage done to it. Which was a relief, I wouldn’t have to spend my limited funds to repair it.

   Arriving at the house, I told him that I would be going to bed early, the whole day had really pushed by my appetite. Stopping in the bathroom, I grabbed a few Tylenol. The relived the pain that I could still feel in my chest and when it eased away, I drifted to sleep.

   That night would be the first time that I dreamed of Alice Cullen.


	5. Invitation

In my dream it was quite dark in the beginning, and what light that I could make out seemed to be coming out of Alice. She wouldn’t move closer to me if I tried to reach her. She seemingly stayed just out of reach, a face outside of the coffee shop, walking past in the school hallways, always within reach but just to far to touch. If I called out to her she turned and waved, but didn’t move closer.

   I didn’t know if it was comforting or not of having her in my dreams, but it did seem that after her first appearance in my sleep that I had no more nightmares. They had always been infrequent when I was in phoenix, but now they where a distant memory, like she was shielding me form the bad dreams.

   They month following the accident was uneasy, tense, and, at first, embarrassing.

   To my dismay. I found myself at the center of attention for the rest of the week. Tyler was impossible, following me around, obsessed with making amends to me somehow. I tried to convince him that I wanted nothing more, than for him to forget all about it – especially since noting had actually happened to me – but the remained insistent. He followed me between classes and sat at our now over-crowded lunch table. Mike and Eric were even less friendly toward him than they were to each other.

   No one seemed to be concerned about Alice, though I explained time after time, that it was because of her actions I wasn’t harmed. I tried to be convincing, but they wouldn’t bite. Jessica, Mike, Eric, and everyone that had and opinion about what had happened, commented that they hadn’t seen her till they rounded the van.

   I wondered why they wouldn’t belief me, thinking it over I realized that when Alice pulled me out of the way it was mostly out of view of the school entrance.

   Alice was never surrounded by a crowd of curios bystanders eager for a first hand account. Which wasn’t really strange, as the Cullen’s never interacted with the larger school population. The Cullen’s and the Hales sat at their table as always, not eating, talking amongst themselves. I could see Alice and Edward playing a game of chess. She looked up for a moment and smiled towards me before knocking over a horse on Edwards side.

   When we sat together in biology again, I tried to bring what had happened one last time, “What did you mean when you said that you just saw it happening?”

   Alice looked up form her bag, taking out her pristine biology book, “what?” she asked.

   “you said that you said that you saw it happening.”

   “Bella,” Alice began earnestly, ”while it might seem a little strange, that is exactly what happened, I saw it playing out and acted accordingly. You might say that hindsight is twenty-twenty, well I have a sort of hindsight.”

   I looked a bit confused, “like seeing the future?” I stated aloud.

   “No,” Alice interrupted,” more like a gut feeling that turns out to be right most of the time.

   “Ah.” I let out, letting what Alice just said, play out a few times. “I think that I need to reiterated my tanks ones more.” Alice cocked her eyebrow, “thanks for having the foresight to pull me out of the way”

   “I most graciously accept your tanks.” Alice said before Mr. Banner called the class to attention.

   The week following the accident Mike started hanging around me. While it was a mystery why he had started doing it, his confidence grew, sitting on the edge of my table before Biology started. This seemed to annoy Alice but, he didn’t seem to notice, or care for the matter.

   The snow washed away as fast as it had appeared after that one dangerously icy day. Mike was disanointed he’d never gotten to stage his snowball fight, but was pleased that the beach trip would soon be possible. The rain continued heavily though, the weather lucky had warmed so that in the  morning the roads where still ice-free.

   Jessica made me aware of another event looming on the horizon – she called the first Tuesday of March to ask my permission to invite Mike to the girl’s choice spring dance in two weeks.

   “Are you sure you don’t mind… you weren’t planning to ask him?” she persisted when I told her that I didn’t mind in the least.

   “No, Jess, I’m not going.” I assured her, “Even if I was, I wouldn’t ask him.” I continued. Dancing was glaringly outside my range of abilities, as was my attraction for mike.

   “It will be really fun.” Her attempt to convince me was halfhearted. I suspected that Jessica enjoyed my inexplicable popularity more than my actual company.

   “You have fun with Mike,” I encouraged.

   The next day, I was suspired that Jessica wasn’t her usual gushing self in Trig and Spanish. She was silent as she walked by my side between classes, and I was a little afraid to ask why. If Mike had the audacity to turn her down, I was the last person she would want to tell.

   My fears were strengthened during lunch when Jessica sat as far away as possible, chatting animatedly whit Eric. Mike was unusually quiet, mirroring Jessica’s behavior in the morning.

   Feeling the tension, at the end of lunch, I was pleased to find Alice waiting at the exit of the cafeteria. She had already disposed of her food and had looped her arm trough mine when we left the cafeteria.

   “Can I know why you’re walking me to class?” I asked Alice, curious for her reasoning.

   “I didn’t want you walking awkwardly to your next class when you had nothing to do with the origin of the problem.” She said popping a mint in her mouth, offering me too.

   “No thanks, what do you mean with problem?” I asked confused.

   “The whole Jessica and Mike tale.” She said as if that clarified everything.

   “Oh, so he told her no? Is that it?” I asked, putting two and two together. You had to give it to such a small school, news travels fast.

   “More or less,” Alice said holding the door to the Biology classroom open,” you’ll find out soon enough. On another not I heard that Seattle is beautiful in the spring.”

   “Do you always talk so mysterious?” I asked her, only receiving a wink in response.

   Mike was still quiet when he entered the class, taking the most direct route to my desk as soon as he saw me sitting there.

   “so,” Mike said, looking at the floor, “Jessica asked me out to the spring dance.”

   “That’s great.” I made my voice as bright and supportively surprised as I could make it. “I think that you’ll have a lot of fun with Jessica.”

   “Well…” He floundered as he examined my smile, clearly not happy with my response. “I told her that I had to think about it.”

   “Why would you do that?”, I let disapproval pain my tone, though I was relieved that my worst fear hadn’t played out, that he would have given an absolute no.

   His face was started so shimmer like a hot ember as he looked down again.

   “I was wondering if… well, if  you might be planning to ask me.”

   I paused for a second, taking in what he had just laid out, and in the back of my mind I was trying to figure out how I was going to traverse out of this situation. Letting my eyes wander for a second I saw that Alice had Put her book down, not reading it but listening in on Mike’s and I’s conversation.

   “Mike, I think that you should tell her yes,” I said.

   “Did you already ask someone?” Mike looked up and scanned the room for any potential candidate.

   “No,” I assured him. “I’m not going tot the dance at all.”

   “Why not?” Mike demanded.

   Not wanting to go into the safety hazards that dancing for me presented, I quickly came up with a new plan.

   “I am going to Seattle that Saturday,” I explained. I needed to get out of town anyway – it was suddenly the perfect time to go.

   “Can’t you go some other weekend?”

   “No, I can’t,” I said. “So you shouldn’t make Jess wait any longer – it’s rude.”

   “yeah you’re right.” He mumbled, and turned, dejected, to walk back to his seat. I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to my temples, trying to push out the memory of what had just transpired. Mr. Banner started talking. I sighed and opened my eyes.

   Glancing to my side I could see Alice staring at me reassuringly.

   Staring back, nonverbally, I tried to communicate to her the awkward feeling that I had gotten from Tyler’s request.

   She hummed agreeably, before shifting her focus to the front of the classroom.

   “Miss Cullen?” the teacher called, seeking the answer to a question that I hadn’t heard.

   “The citric acid cycle,” Alice answered, as if she’d been attentive since the lesson started.

   I looked down and realized that I hadn’t taken my books out of my bag. After that moment, Alice and I were called on a few more times and even I was able to correctly answer the questions that where asked. The lesson ended on a questionnaire that lab-partners had to fill out together.

   As usual I filled in what I knew and Alice factchecked the answers and filled in the open questions. It took us about five minutes to fill in the questionnaire after which we packed out bags before presenting it to Mr. Banner.

   “You’re good to go,” Mr. Banner said, diverting his attention as soon as we left, “No cheating Mike, I can see you from here young man.”

   The walk to gym was an unusual cold one, the wind had strengthened considerably to just a few hours earlier. When we finally got there I slipped inside for shelter and bid Alice farewell.

    Gym was brutal. We’d moved on to basketball. My team never passed me the ball, so that was good, but I fell down a lot. Sometimes I took people with me, luckily mostly the other team. Today I was worse than usual because of all the offers to the dance that I’d received. I tried to concentrate on my feet, but it kept creeping back into my thoughts just when I really needed my balance.

   It was a relief, as always, to leave. Walking back to my truck, managing to fall twice when the wind suddenly changed directions, I looked forward to making dinner this evening. The truck had suffered only minimal damage in the accident. I’d had to replace the taillights, and if it had a real paint job, I would have touched that up. Tyler’s parents had to sell their van for parts.

   Turning the corner, I noticed a tall, dark figure leaning on my truck. Closing in I realized that it was Eric.

   “Hey, Erik,” I called.

   “Hi, Bella.”

   “What’s up?” I said as I was unlocking the door. I wasn’t paying attention to the uncomfortable edge in his voice, so his next few words took me by surprise.

   “Uh, I was just wondering...if you would go to the spring dance with me?” His voice broke on the last word.

   “I thought it was girl’s choice,” I said, too startled to be diplomatic.

   “Well, yeah,” He admitted, shamefaced.

   Recovering my composure I tried to make my smile warm. “Thank you for asking me, but I’m going to be in Seattle that day.”

   “Oh,” he said. “Well, maybe next time.”

   “Sure, maybe next time,” I agreed and then turned away to signal that the conversation was over.

   He slouched off, back toward the school. I could hear a chuckle coming from somewhere behind me. Looking over my shoulder I could see Alice walking past the front of my truck. “two down, one to go,” she said, when I turned to wave goodbye.

   “what does that mean?” I asked but Alice had already gotten into her car, one day I would understand her cryptic messages.

   I reversed my truck out into the aisle. Getting cut of by a couple of students who were waiting for their friends in front of the cafeteria.

   Looking over I could see that Alice had gotten stuck in front of me, waiting for her family; I could see them walking this way, still a way away though.

   I looked in the rearview mirror. A line was beginning to form. Directly behind me, Tyler was in his recently acquired used Sentra, waving. Too tired to acknowledge him, I just cocked my eyebrow.

   While I was sitting there, looking everywhere but the line in front and behind me, I heard a knock on my passenger side window. I looked over; it was Tyler. I glanced back in my rearview mirror, confused. His car was still running, the door left open. I leaned across the cab to crank the window down. It was stiff. I got it halfway down, then gave up.

   “I’m sorry, Tyler, I can’t move, those kids are blocking the exit.” I was annoyed – obviously the holdup wasn’t my fault.

   “Oh, I know – I just wanted to ask you something while we’re trapped here.” He grinned.

   This could not be happening, for the love of god, let this not be happening.

   “Will you ask me to the spring dance?” he continued.

   “I’m not going to be intown, Tyler.” My voice sounded a little sharp. I had to remember it wasn’t his fault that Mike and Eric had already used up mu quota of patience for the day.

   “Yeah, Mike said that,” he admitted.

   “Then why –“

   He shrugged. “I was hoping you were just letting them down easy.”

   Okay, it was completely his fault.

   “Tyler, I’m really going out of town that weekend” I said, working to hide my irritation to a degree.

   “That’s cool. We still have prom.”

   And before I could respond, he was walking back to his car. I could feel the shock on my face. I looked forward to see the Cullen’s slipping into Alice’s car.

   Recovering from the shock, I took off after them as soon as I could. Leaving Tyler’s Sentra in the dust. I drove home pondering over what happened today.

   When I got home, I decided to make chicken enchiladas for dinner. It was a long process, keeping me busy for the rest of the evening, giving me time to think over what had happened during the day. While I was simmering the onions and chilies, the phone rang. I was almost afraid to answer it, but it might be Charlie or my mom. Turning the radio down, I picked up.

   It was Jessica, and she was jubilant; mike had caught her after school to accept her invitation. I celebrated with her briefly while I stirred. She had to go, she wanted to call Angela and Lauren to tell them. I suggested – with casual innocence – that maybe Angela, the shy girl from Biology could ask Eric. And Lauren, a standoffish girl who had always ignored me at the lunch table, could ask Tyler; I’d heard he was still available. Jess thought that was a great idea. Now that she was sure of Mike, she actually sounded sincere when she said she wished I would go to the dance. I gave her my Seattle excuse.

   After I hung up, I tried to concentrate on dinner – dicing the chicken especially; I didn’t want to take another trip to the emergency room. Nearing the end of the preparations my head began to spin.

   My stomach growling let me know that I had been quite hungry. Finishing up the meal I put them in the oven when I could hear a car pull into the driveway.

   Charlie seemed suspicious when he smelled the green peppers. I couldn’t blame him - the closest edible Mexican food was probably in southern California. But he was a cop, even if just a small-town cop, so he was brave enough to take the first bite. He seemed to like it. It was fun to watch as he slowly began to trust me in the kitchen.

   “Dad?” I asked when he was almost done.

   “Yeah, Bella?”

   “I, um, just wanted to let you know that I’m going to Seattle for the day a week from Saturday...if that is okay?” I didn’t want to ask permission – it set a bad precedent – but I felt rude, so I tacked it on at the end.

   “Why?” he sounded surprised, as if he were unable to imagine something that Forks couldn’t offer.

   “Well, I wanted to get a few books – the library here is pretty limited – and maybe look at some clothes.” I had more money than I was used to having, since, thanks to Charlie, I hadn’t had to pay for a car. Not that the truck didn’t cost me a bit in the gas department.

   “That truck probably doesn’t get very great gas mileage,” he said, echoing my thoughts.

   “I know, I’ll stop in Montesano and Olympia – and Tacoma if I have to.”

   “Are you going all by yourself?” he asked, and I couldn’t tell If I had a secret significant other or just worried about car trouble.

   “Yes.”

   “Seattle is a big city – you could get lost,” he fretted.

   “Dad, Phoenix is five times the size of Seattle – and I can read a map, don’t worry about it.”

   “Do you want me to come with?”

   I tried to be crafty as I hid my horror.

   “That’s all right, Dad, I’ll probably just be in dressing rooms all day – very boring.”

   “Oh, okay.” The thought of sitting in women’s clothing stores for any period of time immediately put him off.

   “Thanks.” I smiled at him.

   “will you be back in time for the dance?”

   Humph. Only in a town this small would a father know when the high school dances were.

   “No – I don’t dance, Dad.” He, of all people, should understand that – I didn’t get my balance problems from my mother.

   He did understand. “Oh, right...,” he realized.

   The next morning, when I pulled into the parking lot, I parked closer to the exit, wanting to not be in the same scenario as yesterday. Before I could make it out of my car I noticed a shorthaired girl walking past the back of my truck.

   Getting out of the cab, I fumbled with my key and it fell into a hand. Looking up, I was greeted by a smiling Alice.

   “How do you do that?” I asked taking my key out of her hand.

   “Do what?” she asked, faking confusion.

   Gesturing at the floor with the keys, “like that,” I said.

   “Bella, do you think it was a far fetched idea that you would drop your keys?” she asked. “Like I’m good at predicting the future, but there are some things that are a given.”

   Letting out a frustrated, sigh, “Alright, is there something you wanted to ask me?” I asked as my truck was in the opposite direction of the school.

   “That’s right, I wanted to know if you liked snickers?” she asked, with a straight face.

   “wait, what?” I said blinking my eyes.

   “Ooh, we haven’t gotten there yet,” She said, “Sorry, I was wondering if you would like me to drive you to Seattle a week from Saturday?”

    Again I was drawing a blank, “wait, you are offering to drive me to Seattle?”

   “Well, yes. I can see that your truck will not make it even if you stop to tank frequently. You are going to have an uncomfortable walk to Queets.” She said, turning around and waving me over so we could start walking to the school.

   “How do you know my truck won’t make it?” I asked just when we left it out of earshot.

   “It’s and old truck that even in its good days had a not spectacular gas mileage.”

   “that might be true, but why are you offering to bring me to Seattle?” I asked, already half accepting her offer. As much as it pained me to think it, my truck was not made for the nearly eight hour drive to Seattle and back.

   “I had already planned on going there for a few weeks, and it just happened that you were going there.” Alice explained.

   “Alright,” her story seemed genuine, so I saw no reason not to accept her offer, ”I’ll accept the ride.” I told Alice, as her face lit up.

   “That’s great, I’ll see you in class” She said skipping away.

   An interesting ride that will be I thought for a second before I checked my watch, rushing off to English.


End file.
